Ferrari has strengthened its technical staff with the recruitment of tyre specialist Hirohide Hamashima and Mercedes' Steve Clark.

Hamashima will report to Pat Fry and joins the team having previously been the director of Bridgestone's motorsport tyre development. Ferrari struggled to get the most out of the new Pirelli tyres in 2011 and team principal Stefano Domenicali told reporters at the Wrooom media event that was the main thinking before Hamashima's appointment.

"Hamashima joins today and in the future we will get his contribution on the development of the car and the issue of tyres," Domenicali said. "There was an issue last year where we suffered in some conditions, and the goal is of having a major contribution from his part. He will be a reference for us - and we expect an important contribution from him."

"He knows the world of tyres. His knowledge is fundamental and we have used this occasion to strengthen our understanding in this area. Last year we were not that good in exploiting all the tyres we had in hand, so that is the reason why he has come into the team."

Clark becomes head of race engineers having joined from Mercedes. He worked for the team from 2007 under its previous guises of Honda and Brawn, with his previous teams including McLaren, Sauber and Team Lotus.